Chapter 41 Preliminary Work Based on the DrawingsYang Zijin nodded and smiled in return.
“My surname is Qian. I am the shopkeeper of this cloth shop. How could I address you, Young Master,” Shopkeeper Qian introduced himself.
Xian who stood aside replied, “My Young Master"s surname is Yang.”
“Oh! It was Young Master Yang. You really have a good taste. The fabrics you want are all superior satin and fine cotton. However, certainly, the price will be higher.” Qian said, and looked at Yang Zijin.
Then, the Young Master Yang in front of Qian replied blandly, “No problem. You just calculate the price.”
“Since Young Master Yang is really frank, I will be straight as well. The three pieces of satin cost sixty pence, and the two pieces of gauze cost eight pence. The price of cotton is five pence. It"s seventy-three pence in total,” Qian calculated and told Yang Zijin.
“Shopkeeper Qian, you"d better calculate it carefully. If I need cloth in the future, I won"t choose another shop.” Yang Zijin frowned slightly and told Qian.
Hearing Yang Zijin say this, Qian also looked forthright, “I just want to make a friend with you. So, it will be seventy pence.”
If it were someone who hadn"t done business, he would feel too embarra.s.sed to bargain on hearing Qian"s words. However, Yang Zijin wouldn"t fall for this.
“Sixty-five pence,” Yang Zijin said without even thinking about it.
Qian looked embarra.s.sed, and he said, “Young Master Yang must have known that the cost of these elegant satins was already high. If I sell you these clothes at a lower price, I will do the business at a loss.”
” Xian, let"s go to another shop,” He said, got up and tried to leave.
Seeing this, Qian stopped her immediately and said, “Let me think about it.”
Qian balanced for a moment, gritted his teeth, and said, “Okay. We can make the deal according to the price that you have offered. If you need anything in the future, please remember to help me boost the business of Jinxiu Villa.”
“Of course,” Yang Zijin said and told Xian to take the money.
Qian, who had received the banknotes, counted them roughly and smiled, “I have asked the clerk to go to the warehouse to get the cloth. Would you like to tell me where you live, and I will let the clerks deliver them to you by carriage.”
Yang Zijin nodded.
Xian said on the side, “Send it to the Blossoming Peach.”
“It turned out to be Young Master of the Blossoming Peach! The old man has long known his name. Heard that the Blossoming Peach has a different style. The old man wanted to see it for a long time, but he was stumbled by the business.” He said while making a loss.
Yang Zijin said, “If you come in the future, remember to call me and I will treat you well.”
“Now that Young Master Yang has said so, I will make time to visit there,” Qian responded.
After greeting for a while, they left Jinxiu Villa. Yang Zijin told Xian to go to the cotton shop to buy 20 pounds of cotton before calling the tailors they found yesterday. Then, she returned to the mansion of Marquis to get the design of the bra and the banquet suits.
The Blossoming Peach.
Yang Zijin let someone vacate two large rooms with good lighting and put a few large tables in the middle. One room was used to store fabrics, and the other to make final products.
At this point, Xian had brought the tailors. There were six in total, and the leading tailor was called Sister Liu by the others.
“This is my Young Master. His surname is Yang.” Xian introduced her to the tailors.
The tailors said, “h.e.l.lo, Young Master Yang.”
“You don"t have to be reserved. You just fabricate the product. Here is the drawing of what you are going to fabricate. Take a look first.” Then she put the drawing of the bra on the table.
The tailors gathered around and looked at the design on the drawing, and then shook their heads one after another.
Seeing that the tailors were silent, Yang Zijin came to Sister Liu and asked, “How does Sister Liu think?”
“Young Master. Frankly, we have never seen these things before. Not to mention having made them. If we are going to fabricate them, we may waste a lot of fabric,” replied Sister Liu.
“Then have a try first. It is always rusty at the beginning, and waste is inevitable.”
“Since Young Master says so, we can have a try first. We will do our best, but there is no guarantee that the finished product is good.”
Seeing Yang Zijin nodded, Sister Liu was relieved. She had to tell the hard truth first. After all, it was something they hadn"t seen before, and they didn"t know what to do. Even if the product did not match the drawings, they would not be criticized by the public. After all, the tailors relied on hands to make livings. If word got out that they had a poor skill, n.o.body would find them to tailor their clothes in the future.
After Yang Zijin left, the tailors began to get busy. They cut the cloths according to the size defined in the drawing. If it was not like the drawing or there was a deviation, they restarted. They were busy until dinner time and two types of bra were fabricated. Yang Zijin thought that they were almost the same as the modern ones. So she called the girls of the Blossoming Peach to try them on. As was expected, the girls all felt that this stuff better suited their bodies, not feeling uncomfortable as well.
Yang Zijin covered up the excitement and called Wufu and Lu"an to go and prepare some good dishes to treat Sister Liu and other tailors.
The next day, Yang Zijin asked Sister Liu to parcel out the task of making bras to other tailors and gave drawings of Western European dress to Sister Liu. Sister Liu couldn"t help but wonder where the young Master Yang found these drawings which she had never seen before.
Seeing Sister Liu staring at the drawings, Yang Zijin said, “Sister Liu, can you have a try?”
Sister Liu nodded after thinking for a while.
Seeing Sister Liu nodding, Yang Zijin said to Xian behind him, “Go get a piece of satin and gauze.”
When Sister Liu heard it was satin, she immediately said, “Young Master Yang, I don"t dare to ruin the superior satin. Let alone the fact that I haven"t seen the things that you have given me, even if I have seen them, I have to be extremely careful when I am working on the clothes of satin. I dare not to take this job.”
“Sister Liu can give it a try, and you don"t have to care about these. Since I asked you to come to do it, I have already thought of these problems.” Yang Zijin saw Sister Liu reacting like this, and she made her feel rea.s.sured immediately.
“In that case, I will give a shot. Qingsao, come over and give me a hand.” Sister Liu finally agreed on the nod.
Three days later, the first Western European dress came out! What Sister Liu did is exactly the same as the drawings.
Yang Zijin hurried to find the girls. She pulled Wen Lan, who had a similar body shape as the dress, into the house to try it on. Meanwhile, the girls were staring at the door, and even Yang Zijin couldn"t wait to see how is this dress on the girl.
Then, Sister Liu ‘s voice came from the house, “Done.”
Everyone held their breath and saw the door slowly opened by Sister Liu. At this moment, Wen Lan came out gently. Wen Lan, in the dress, seemed to be another person, showing n.o.bility.
Everyone was amazed!
Looking closely at the dress on Wen Lan"s body, it could be seen that the jacket was sewn with satin, it was close to the body and lifted the chest. The waist was thinned, and the back of the dress sagged naturally along the spine to the hips. The hem was made of silk and light gauze spread it out. The skirt was uplifted, and a beautiful curve was drawn.
Wen Lan, who had a good shape, appeared to be more charming now.
Everyone was stunned…
This was exactly what Yang Zijin wanted.
“Well, Sister Liu, you will be responsible for teaching people to tailor the dresses in the future, and the salary will be good,” Yang Zijin said.
Hearing Yang Zijin ‘s voice, all the people came to their senses.
Sister Liu thought at first that the design of Yang Zijin was very strange. It did not match the aesthetic standards of people nowadays.
But when Wen Lan put on this dress, she felt that she had been walking on the chalk during her career as a tailor for many years. She never thought about innovation. Now she had the opportunity to innovate, and she couldn"t let it go.
Sister Liu nodded and said, “I will teach them everything I know.”
“Well, I will have some new drawings of dress for you soon. For the moment, focus on fabricating bras. The size needs to be variable while the style will be the same.” Yang Zijin saw Sister Liu agreed and ordered again.
Now the samples of bras and dresses had been fabricated. The only problem left was the issue of publicity. No problem for the dresses, because she could let the girls of the Blossoming Peach wear it and go out. There would surely be someone spreading it. But what about the bra? In the feudal ancient era, underwear was something veiled. How to make it known to many women was a question.
Yang Zijin got a headache again. After considering it for a long time, she decided to open the Blossoming Peach to arouse people"s curiosity first. As long as someone came to watch on the opening day of the store, she would have a way to conquer the hearts of these women. After all, every woman loves being beautiful.
These days, Yang Zijin was busy designing dresses. Both the type and age must be taken into consideration. She had to make a long-term plan. Doing business with the ladies of the official families wouldn"t hurt.
The rectification of the shop was still left to Xian, because Xian"s jobs were thoughtful and she trusted him.
While her tailors were still making bras, Sister Liu tailored dresses according to the drawings. Now she was getting more and more skilled, and she could finish one set in a day.
Since everything was going successfully, Yang Zijin decided to open it on the eighth day of this month.
After setting the date, Yang Zijin asked Xian to find someone to create the shop"s name ‘Woman Flower" that she had decided a long time ago.
At the same time, she let the girls of the Blossoming Peach wear dresses and walk in the downtown area. Everyone was amazed. Many women came forward and inquired.
The girls all smiled and replied, “You can buy these dresses at ‘Woman Flower" which will open soon, and there are many different styles!”
“When will it open then,” Another woman asked.
Wen Lan replied, “On the eighth day of this month, a new store will be opened. The shop name is ‘Woman Flower". It is a store dedicated to women. There is something unexpected inside! There will be little gifts for those who come. ”
“What kind of gift?” The person who asked showed a curious face.
Then, Wen Lan smiled and played a charade, “You will know if you come on that day.”
Of course, these were all instructed by Yang Zijin.
…
On the opening day, Yang Zijin told someone to set up a stage in front of the door. A lot of women stood around the stage, and a few men who joined in the fun stood aside.
People were wondering why the stage was set up…
When it was the auspicious time, Yang Zijin cleared her throat and shouted, “Be quiet first.”
Everyone stopped talking after hearing the voice and turned to Yang Zijin.
With the sound of firecrackers, Xian pulled down the red cloth on the plaque, and the word “Woman Flower” came into people"s eyes.
When the sound of firecrackers stopped, Yang Zijin continued, “Today is the opening of my shop. We"ll give every woman here a little gift. Next, please watch the fashion show.”
Hearing that, the folks started to buzzing again….